Aneel (National Electric Energy Agency) calculates that the electricity bill could fall between 10% and 12% in case of approval of the bill that limits the ICMS rate to 17%, currently the subject of a clash between Congress and the governors.
The account was disclosed by the deputy director general of the agency, Camila Bomfim, at an event that brought together representatives of the sector this Wednesday (8) in Rio de Janeiro. The percentage of decline varies between states, she stressed.
Aneel works with an average readjustment of 18% in tariffs in 2022. The projection, however, does not consider short-term measures to relieve pressure on the electricity bill, such as the return of tax credits to distributors and the privatization of Eletrobras.
“Another issue that is being discussed in Congress is the reduction of the ICMS rate on energy, which considers energy as a social good and limits ICMS to 17%. This is a structural agenda that we have been discussing for a long time and it would be positive “, said.
The project to limit ICMS takes a ride on a decision by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) that demanded that essential items cannot be charged more than the basic rate applied by the state. In addition to energy, it would take fuel.
The states, however, are trying to negotiate with Congress, amid pressure from the government also to zero the ICMS on diesel and cooking gas, the target of a government-sponsored PEC that faces some resistance in the economy itself.
Bomfim said that the return of tax credits, approved by Congress on Tuesday (7th) and awaiting presidential sanction, could reduce tariff readjustments by 5% to 6% in 2022. She did not calculate the impact of Eletrobras privatization. , which injects resources to finance subsidies.
To try to accommodate the two benefits, Aneel suspended the tariff readjustment process at Cemig, a distributor that serves Minas Gerais. The idea is to resume the analysis of the case already considering the amounts of tax credits and Eletrobras.
At this Wednesday’s event, associations in the electricity sector asked for a reduction in subsidies paid to the electricity bill and criticized threats of intervention in tariffs by Congress, which even debated the suspension of readjustments through a legislative decree.
In a document addressed to candidates for the presidency of the Republic, Fase (Forum of Electric Sector Associations) listed among the sector’s priorities the reduction of sector charges charged on the electricity bill to pay for subsidies.
The performance of the Congress on the sector is a great cause for concern, stressed the president of ABCE (Brazilian Association of Electric Energy Companies), Alexei Vivan. For him, initiatives such as the legislative decree that provided for the suspension of readjustments in 2022 create legal uncertainty.
“These are electoral issues that in the short term may represent a reduction in the price of energy, but are not sustainable in the long term”, said the executive.
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